Jeffrey and Juli cook: Adventures in Iowa

Shop locally, cook globally, eat with great gusto. Repeat!

We like to cook. We like to eat. We like to try (and sometimes invent) new recipes and find new places to shop, and sometimes we go out of our way to find specific ingredients. Our tastes are pretty diverse, and sometimes our food adventures lead us to interesting places. We invite you to join us on our adventures.

We tried to have a lot of vegetable and fruit dishes because we had a vegetarian in our midst. The Citrus Spice Cranberry Sauce is a new innovation this year, and is totally crafted by Jeffrey. Everyone who's tasted it has wanted the recipe, so here it is!

Jeffrey's Citrus Spice Cranberry Sauce

zest of 2 oranges and 1 lemon

juice from the 2 oranges

3 12-ounce bags of fresh cranberries

2 cups sugar (or sugar substitute)

1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple in its own juice, undrained

2 6-ounce cans pineapple juice

1/16th teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Zest the citrus fruit, and juice the two oranges. In a Dutch oven, combine all and bring to a boil. Using a slotted spoon, stir frequently and as the berries pop, crush them against the edge of the pan. Cook until the berries have mostly dissolved and the mixture has thickened and turned a deep red color. Transfer to a bowl to cool and serve.

We generally use Splenda to make the sauce more diabetic-friendly. This is great with both poultry and ham.

January 01, 2013

So, we launched the new year with, among other things, a new recipe. We made some beef stew recently, but I was still in a stew mood and wanted to try something different. I happened to see a recipe on allrecipes.com that got me thinking about a pork and green chile stew, and I used that as my starting point. The recipe I started with looked essentially sound, but I knew that certain touches - like browning the meat beforehand and adding some tomato paste - would make it more flavorful. I also decided to toss in a Serrano chile for some extra heat. The beans are completely my own touch; I know from previous recipes that cannelloni beans go well with both pork and chiles, so they seemed a good touch here.

The results were good: a flavorful, satisfying stew with tender pork and a subtle sort of heat. Definitely a good thing for a winter day.

Some small notes. As always, I used my mortar and pestle to grind up some cumin seeds, rather than using pre-ground cumin, because the pre-ground stuff loses a lot of the flavor. I also cooked it in oil before adding the vegetables. This touch tends to increase the impact of spices.

Also, I initially chopped the sweet potato into 1/2" chunks, and as a result, they all but entirely disintegrated by the time the stew was done cooking. Next time I'll use 1-inch chunks of sweet potato. and that's what the recipe below calls for.

Slow Cooker Green Chile Pork Stew

2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil

2 ½ lbs boneless pork loin, cut into ¾” cubes

1 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped

1 Serrano chile (seeds removed), diced

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon tomato paste

2 cans(7 oz) diced green chiles

1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes

¼ cup low-sodium chicken broth

1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced into 1” pieces

1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano

2 cans (15 oz.)cannelloni (white kidney) beans, drained

Shredded cheddar and Monterey jack cheese.

Heat one tablespoon of oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high
heat until shimmering.Dry half of the
pork cubes with paper towels, sprinkle with salt and pepper and add to the
Dutch oven once the oil is heated.Cook,
stirring occasionally, until the pork is browned on all sides.Transfer the cooked pork to the slow cooker,
then repeat with the remaining pork.Do
not wash the Dutch oven.Reduce heat to
medium.

Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the Dutch oven and
heat it until shimmering.Add the cumin
and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.Add
the onion and Serrano chili and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is
clear and tender.Add garlic and tomato
paste and cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute.Add the canned green chiles and the diced tomatoes, stir and simmer,
stirring occasionally, until the liquid has thickened.Add the chicken broth, stir and use the edge
of a spoon to loosen any fond from the sides and bottom of the Dutch oven.Transfer the contents of the Dutch oven to
the slow cooker.

Add the sweet potato and oregano to the pork mixture. Stir, cover and cook on high 5-6 hours. Stir in the cannellini beans. Cover, cook for 10-15 minutes. Serve topped with shredded cheese.

November 27, 2012

The weather has been running hot and cold here. Literally! I guiltily turned the central air on last week when the house just didn't cool down enough for our preferred sleeping temperature. After sleeping for 10 years above an uninsulated front porch (the "summer porch" a lot of older homes had, which is basically a room that's almost all windows, so you can catch a breeze in the summer heat), we REALLY have come to like a cold room. This is definitely not the usual November weather- some days have been in the high 60's, and today is a much colder 34.During one of the cold days, Jeffrey decided to write up a recipe we've been enjoying for a year or so. This is his own recipe, arrived at through trial and error. Every batch was just a little bit better!

Cajun Macaroni and Cheese is definitely not an inexpensive comfort food because of all the cheese, but the taste is so good that every time I bring a container for lunch, someone in my office comments on how good is smells. It tastes even better!And as usual, we make massive amounts, because even with all the cheese, this recipe freezes very well. If you're going to go to all the trouble of putting this together, you might as well be able to enjoy your hard work for awhile!-Juli

Process bread into unevenly-sized crumbs. Combine bread crumbs, Parmigiano-Reggiano,
parsley, black pepper, paprika and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Pour the melted butter on top of the bread
crumb mixture and stir to combine. Set
aside.

Melt 1 tbsp butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add sliced Andouille sausage and onion and
cook, stirring frequently, until the sausage is lightly browned and the onion
is translucent (5-6 minutes). Add garlic
and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat. Transfer sausage
mixture to a bowl, cover and set aside.

Start water boiling and prepare the macaroni according to
package directions. Preheat oven to 375
degrees.

Sauce:

Start at about the same time you start the water boiling
for the macaroni.

In the same Dutch oven used to cook the sausage and
onions, melt 6 tablespoons butter over medium heat. When the butter is bubbling, add ¼ cup of the
flour and whisk to combine. Whisk in the
rest of the flour, ¼ cup at a time, to make a roux. Whisk in one cup of milk and whisk until
smooth. Whisking constantly, add two
more cups of milk, one cup at a time, until smooth. Cook until slightly thickened (about 2
minutes), then add the final 3 cups of milk and cook, whisking constantly,
until the sauce starts to thicken (about 10 minutes).

Reduce heat to medium-low, then add the grated cheddar
and gruyere cheeses 1 cup at a time, whisking until smooth before adding the
next cup. Repeat until all of the
cheddar and gruyere are incorporated into the sauce, then repeat with the
American cheese. Whisk in the Worcestershire
sauce, mustard powder, paprika, cayenne, black pepper and salt. Remove from heat.

Assembly:

Drain the macaroni.
Divide the macaroni and the sausage mixture evenly between the two
casserole dishes, add half of the sauce
into each casserole, then stir to combine.
Sprinkle half of the topping mixture over each casserole, then transfer
to the preheated oven.

Cook for 35 minutes, rotating the casserole dishes once
during cooking. Remove from the oven and
let cool 10 minutes. Serve.

We like to package the leftovers into sandwich-sized freezer-safe containers. This size is good for an individual work-day lunch. Microwave and enjoy!

October 20, 2012

In the past several months, I've been making a fair amount of pizza, and trying out a lot of recipes in doing so. The various cooking magazines to which we subscribe have featured some pretty good pizza recipes in the past year. For example, the March 2012 issue ofBon Appetit featured a pretty good recipe. The one I've been using the most, though, and the one I consider the best, is the pizza dough recipe from the April/May issue ofFine Cooking. That recipe, for Make-Ahead Pizza Dough, was featured in the article "Pizza Your Way, Any Day," and is also at this link. This recipe makes for fool-proof dough that lasts for days in the refrigerator and makes for as many as eight pizzas, depending on how thick a crust you want. We prefer the cracker-thin crust option, though the photos with this post show one with a slightly thicker crust.

I go pretty simple for toppings, for the most part. Sliced grape tomatoes, a crimini and shitake mushrooms and a mix of cheeses (mozzarella, gruyere and Parmesan, most of the time), plus some chopped, fresh basil and oregano. Occasionally we'll toss on some arugula as well.

Good pizza requires good sauce, though, so I've been experimenting with sauce recipes and developed one we really like.

Add the olive oil to a 3-quart saucepan and heat until shimmering. Add the garlic and pepper flakes and cook 1 minute. Add the tomato, pepper and salt, stir thoroughly and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 40 minutes, by which time the sauce should have thickened and reduced to about 2 cups.

September 23, 2012

The weather has cooled down here in central Iowa, and that has inspired Jeffrey to get out the grill. This steak seasoning is savory and peppery. If you aren't a huge fan of the black peppercorn's bite, just cut it back to your own preference level. Enjoy!

Grind the black pepper on a coarse setting. You can use Tone's Restaurant Black Pepper if you don't have a pepper grinder, but fresh ground really does taste better. We got our grinder at the local Penzey Spices - they have very durable grinders. After the pepper is ground, combine all the spices and stir to mix thoroughly. Use a paper towel to "dry" the steaks, and then rub an ample amount of the seasoning on both sides. Let the steaks rest at room temperature while you get the grill going (about 15 minutes).Grill steaks to preferred level of doneness.

We like to serve the steaks with mushroom and cherry tomato kabobs.

With our steaks, we like to add baked potatoes with sour cream, topped with chives snipped from our herb garden, and buttered fresh green beans.

September 17, 2012

Lemon Grass is my absolute Number 1 favorite restaurant in Des Moines. We eat there at least once a week! The entrees feature lots of stir-fried veggies, and sensible portions of lean meat.

The dining area is small but very tastefully decorated. There is also outside seating, which we take advantage of when the weather cooperates.The appetizers are so good, sometimes that's all we order! They are always out of the kitchen in a flash. My favorite is the pork eggrolls. They're so crunchy-crispy, yet still just about melt in your mouth.﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿

﻿

﻿

﻿﻿﻿﻿

Non-soggy potstickers, YAY!

pork eggrolls

Jeffrey and I both like these!﻿﻿﻿﻿

﻿

﻿

﻿

Other favorites are pictured here:

﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿

panang curry

volcano noodles

﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿
﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿

pad thai

tom ka, a wonderful coconut milk soup

﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿

﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿Lemon Grassis located at 1221 8th Street, West Des Moines, Iowa. They are closed on Mondays. I also should note that portions are very generous, and reasonably priced.﻿﻿

About Me

Jeffrey here. I'm a licensed psychotherapist, but I won't be writing about that here, because this blog is about cooking and things food-related. My love of cooking developed out of my love of eating tasty stuff, and while I have no professional training in the culinary arts, I like to think I'm a pretty darn good cook.

Hi, I'm Juli. I'm a country cook, was brought up in small-town Iowa and loved my local 4-H group. I like my recipes simple and tasty!